1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for a photographing apparatus and a photographing system with a high operational characteristic and a high visibility suitable for a photographing operation of the apparatus that is disposed at a remote place and that is used for a monitoring operation, an observing operation, a guiding operation, a presenting operation, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 23, when the user controls a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place, he or she operates a pan tilter in eight directions (up, down, left, right, upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left directions) with eight-direction keys, a zooming controller, and a wide-angle controller so as to photograph a desired object while observing a photographed picture 6A on a monitor 2. In the structure shown in FIG. 23, the user moves a cursor 7 to one of the direction keys 10 with a mouse 8. Alternatively, after the user has controlled a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place in the above-described method and registered pan tilter information and zoom information of positions of pictures to be photographed, he or she drives the photographing apparatus at absolute positions corresponding to the registered positions so as to select pictures.
In the conventional controller, a picture that is displayed on the monitor is limited in the range of which the photographing apparatus is moved by the pan tilter. Thus, when the user photographs a desired object, he or she should operate the pan tilter in the full range thereof. Consequently, the user should have skill in operating the pan tilter.
When the user changes the photographing direction with the conventional direction keys, even if he or she stops pressing the direction keys, since the pan tilter does not immediately stops and thereby he or she may not catch a desired object. When the direction varying speed of the photographing apparatus with the pan tilter is low, although such a problem may be solved, since the response characteristic deteriorates, a high operational characteristic cannot be obtained.
When the user wants to place a desired object at the center of the angle of view of the photographing apparatus, since he or she controls the photographing direction while observing a picture on the monitor, he or she should determine the photographing direction on trial and error basis. Thus, the user may spend a long time for controlling the photographing apparatus. Moreover, to properly operate the photographing apparatus, the user should have skill.
When picture and control information is exchanged with a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place through a low-capacity network, the control information may be lost and/or picture information may be delayed due to an irregularity of their arrival intervals. If the pan tilter or the zooming controller is operated for picture and control information that has been delayed or lost, even if the user causes the pan tilter and the zooming controller to place the object at the desired position, the pan tilter and the zooming controller do not properly operate. Thus, the object is placed at an improper position due to the delay. In addition, depending on the line condition, the arrival intervals of picture information vary. Thus, the user should control the pan tilter and the zooming controller based on a prediction. Consequently, the user cannot properly control the pan tilter and the zooming controller.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a controller for a photographing apparatus for allowing the user to designate a desired position or a desired area on a panorama picture displayed as a part or all the moving range of a pan tilter so that the user can easily obtain a desired picture with the photographing apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a controller for a photographing apparatus and a photographing system with a high visibility and a high operational characteristic that allow the user to designate a desired position or a desired area on a screen and select an object with the designated position or area and the photographing apparatus to place the selected object at the center of the screen.
A first aspect of the present invention is a controller for a photographing apparatus having a photographing portion with driving means that allows the photographing direction of photographing means to be varied, comprising a displaying means for displaying a panorama picture generated with a picture photographed by the photographing means, and a controlling means for referencing the panorama picture and varying the photographing direction of the photographing means.
A second aspect of the present invention is a controller for a photographing apparatus having a photographing portion with driving means that allows the photographing direction of photographing means to be varied, the controller comprising an operation area in which a panorama picture generated with a picture photographed by the photographing means is displayed, and a picture selecting means for allowing the user to designate a desired point in the operation area, selecting an object photographed by the photographing means corresponding to the designated point, and moving the selected object to desired positional coordinates of the driving means.
A third aspect of the present invention is a controller for a photographing apparatus having a photographing portion with driving means that allows the photographing direction of photographing means to be varied, the controller comprising an operation area in which a panorama picture generated with a picture photographed by the photographing means is displayed, and a picture selecting means for allowing the user to designate a desired area in the operation area, selecting an object photographed by the photographing means corresponding to the designated area, and moving an object at the position corresponding to a desired point generated with the desired area to desired positional coordinates of the driving means.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is a photographing system having a photographing portion with driving means that allows the photographing direction of photographing means to be varied and a controller for a photographing apparatus, the controller controlling the photographing portion, wherein the controller comprises an operation area in which a panorama picture generated with a picture photographed by the photographing means is displayed, and a picture selecting means for selecting an object photographed by the photographing means in the operation area and moving the selected object to desired positional coordinates of the driving means.
A picture photographed by a pan tilter camera that is disposed at a remote place and that can be moved in various directions is sent to a computer. The picture is displayed as a panorama picture in a display area of a monitor. The direction of a picture selecting means corresponding to the direction of an object to be placed at the center of the angle of view of the photographing apparatus in the panorama picture is designated by a pointing device connected to the computer. Since the pan tilter is controlled with reference to the panorama picture, a desired picture can be photographed by the photographing apparatus.
In addition, the environment of the place at which the pan tilter camera is disposed is displayed as a panorama picture in the panorama operation area of the monitor of the computer. A desired point to be placed at the center of the angle of view of the photographing apparatus in a picture of the panorama operation area or a desired point generated with a desired area is designated by the pointing device connected to the computer. Thus, in the method of which the result is input, a selected object can be easily placed at the center of the screen. In addition, since a desired point in the operation area on the screen or a desired point generated with a desired area is designated with the pointing device, the user can easily know the driving direction of the pan tilter camera. In addition to the panorama operation area, another operation area for a picture may be displayed.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.